Other NI News In Brief

McIlroy 'Bus Stop'

US Open winner Rory McIlroy has arrived back in Northern Ireland, but has said there will be no open-top bus tour for his homecoming because he is "a golfer not a football team". McIlroy, who broke records at the US Open in Maryland, is set to receive a hero's welcome at his own Holywood Golf Club as it celebrates his homecoming on Wednesday. However the champion ended any speculation of an open-top bus trip around Belfast in a message posted on the micro-blogging website Twitter, "I'm not a football team!!" However, the 22-year-old will receive a special welcome at Stormont Castle with First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.

Portadown Food Store

A food retailer has lost an appeal against planning permission being granted for an unnamed rival food store in Co Armagh. Local builders are now due for a much needed boost after the court's refusal to judicially review the Department of the Environment over its decision on land at Edenderry, Portadown. Developer Vico Kent Ltd has received outline planning approval for a food premises, a service area and car parking on the site of an old gas works. Lawyers for Tesco challenged the move by claiming a Planning Appeals Commission report which recommended excluding the site from Portadown's designated town centre was not properly considered or understood. But Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan, sitting with Lord Justice Higgins and Lord Justice Coghlin, said: "We see no basis for characterising the judgements made as irrational or even unreasonable and, in agreement with the learned trial judge, we reject these grounds of appeal," he said.

Road Deaths

A man has died in a road accident in Co Tyrone. It happened when the 35-year-old driver's car left the Dungannon to Cookstown Road shortly after 11am on Monday. Meanwhile, a 38-year-old woman who died after a car accident in Craigavon on Friday has been named as Aneta Mendak who was orginally from Poland. The collision, which involved a red Renault Megane and a grey Skoda Octavia, was reported to police at around 5pm and the PSNI are appealing to anyone with information to contact them.

USA Flights Doubt

The sole direct flight from Belfast to the USA, on Continental Airlines may be forced to withdraw its New York route due to the level of air travel tax, (APD). In Belfast APD adds £60 on every flight to New York. However, on its flights from Dublin the tax is €3. The Managing Director for Continental UK and Ireland, Bob Schumacher, said the Belfast route is making a loss. He told BBC NI: "In order to compete with our own routes from Ireland we are paying the difference," Mr Schumacher said, noting: "We are losing on the route [because of] the size of the cheque we are writing to Westminster."

Irish School Approved

The Northern Ireland Education Minister, John O'Dowd, has approved a development proposal for a new free-standing Irish-medium school, Gaelscoil Aodha Rua, in the Dungannon area. "The Department has a statutory duty to encourage and facilitate the development of Irish-medium education and I examine each proposal on a fair and consistent basis. There is evidence of a demand from parents to have their children educated through the medium of Irish, with a successful Naíscoil already operating in the area. I have therefore decided to award conditional approval of grant-aided status to the school and wish the school every success in the future in delivering a quality education for its pupils through the medium of Irish," he said.

Belfast Fraud Sentenced

A woman was convicted at Belfast Crown Court this week for claiming benefits she was not entitled to. Kelly Harmon (40) of Southview Cottages, Belfast was given one year imprisonment suspended for three years for failing to declare capital while claiming Income Support and Housing Benefit totalling £49,465. Harmon is also required to repay any outstanding money wrongfully obtained to the Social Security Agency.

Omagh Supported

The Stormont Social Development Minister Nelson McCausland has announced a funding boost of over £98,000 for an 'After School and Homework' programme in Strathroy, Omagh. The initiative from his Department's Neighbourhood Renewal Investment Fund, which has been developed in partnership with the Western Health and Social Care Trust, has been piloted for the past two years. This funding will pay for a support worker for a further three years to provide continued assistance to people who, through no fault of their own, have developed difficult lifestyles as a result of long term alcohol dependence. "This is an excellent project for people who have been experiencing difficulties associated with long term alcohol abuse. My Department is demonstrating its commitment to improving the quality of life and social conditions for people living in the Omagh Neighbourhood Renewal Area," said the DUP MLA.

(BMcC)